Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College women's volleyball team cruised to their first victory of the season over Mills College before falling in a heartbreaking fifth game to Pomona-Pitzer to open up SCIAC competition. 

Game 1 (Mills College – W 25-11, 25-8, 25-9)

In Game 1, the Poets cruised to an easy three set victory behind the help of Alyssa Sialaris who had yet again another double digit kills night with 10.  Sophomore Alayna Rigo who played limited points, managed to get eight kills, while Maria Montero and Alessandra Rios split the time setting with 20 and 16 assists, each respectively.        

Game 2 (Pomona-Pitzer – L 25-17, 24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 10-15)

In Game 2, the Poets came out fired up to start SCIAC play and it was a match as both squads came ready to play.  Whittier jumped out to an early lead in the first set and continued pressuring the Sagehens getting great play from Sialaris who was the go to attacker and the one who finished with a game high 18 kills.  With her help, the Poets jumped out on top to take a 1-0 lead. 

In the second set, the purple and gold got on top yet again with Rios distributing the ball 27 times in the match for a game high and Whittier continued to be the aggressors, but errors were an issue as Pomona-Pitzer came back to take their first lead in the match.  The score went back and forth throughout the set until the Sagehens pulled away, but Whittier managed to come right back and tied it up at 24-24 and from there Pomona rallied off two straight points to even the match at 1-1.

In the third set, Pomona came out inspired to win their first SCIAC game and they jumped out to an early lead and even with the help of Lauren Whiteman who finished with nine kills, it wasn't enough as the Sagehens obtained the 25-22 win. 

In the fourth game, Alayna Rigo and Sialaris got their teammates revitalized and Rigo began taking control as she tallied six kills to go with three digs.  The Poets continued to be aggressive and with the help of Adriana Moore who tallied 20 digs as the libero in the backrow and thanks to a string of errors by Pomona, Whittier was able to come away with a 25-22 fourth set win that forced a fifth and deciding set.

In the final set, Pomona-Pitzer jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but the Poets chipped away at the lead and managed to get within two at 8-6 but that's as close as they would get as the Sagehens came away with a 15-10 win in the set to clinch the victory.       

The purple and gold return to the court as they prepare to take on the Bulldogs of the University of Redlands on Tuesday, September 20 beginning at 7:30pm.